Type-writing machine.



PATENTED OCT. 22. 1907.

A. J. BRIGGS.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

AFPLIUATTON TILED APR. '7. 19( 6.

2 SHBETSSHEET 1 IN VE N T 01?.

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WITNLfSSES:

PATENTED OCT. 22. 1907.

' A. J. BRIGGS.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLIOATIOK FILED APR. 7. 1906.

2 SHE i ylilliiaiiji 3 7.8 5 1.3 1

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A TTORIVEY.

WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

ARTHUR I. BRIGGS, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE SMITH PREMIER TYPEWRITER COMPANY, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW 7 YORK.

Pl-WRITING MACKLKE.

Patented Oct. 22, 1907,

Application flied April'l, 1906. Serial No. 310,410.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, An'rnvn J. Bnroos, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have in- .5 vented certain new and useful Improvements in Type- Writing Machines, of which the'follcwing is a specification.

My invention relates to typewriting machines and especially to an indicator device to be used in connectiozi with a polychrome ink ribbon or an ink ribbon having fields of different characteristics. My invention consists in certain features of con- 7 struction and combinations and arrangements of parts all of which will be fully set forth hereinafter and particulzu-ly pointed out. in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a righthand side elevation, with parts in section, of atype- D writing machine having my invention embodied therein. Fig. 2 is a detail fragmentary front view of certain of the devices embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is a view in section of a stop device employed in the machine, the section being taken substantially on the line :5 of Fig-2 and looking in the direction of the arrow at said line. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the ma- 2 chine with the carriage, carriage rails and other parts of the machine removed. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view showing an indicator card detached from the machine. This view is on a larger scale than Fig. 4.

My invention is applicable to typewriting machines generally but in the present instance I have shown it.

applied to a Smith Premier typewriter. The main frame of this machine comprises a base portion 1, posts 2 audit top plate 3 supported by said posts. Rails 4 mounted on said. top plate support a carriage 5 by antifriction ball or roller bearings and 'a platen 6 is mount ated by arrns projecting friirn rock shafts 15 that are ioumslcd in the base of the machine and are DPT-b fivclly with printing keys 1G, restoring j springs 16 operating a) restore the rock shafts and the 7 parts connected therewith to normal position. Each u of the rock shahlfrhas an arm that is (mum-ted by a link 17 with one of a series of type bins 18 each of which at its free end carricsa type 19 adapted to strike 'agaiust the under face of the platen 6. The mechanism thus briefly described is the well known mechanism of the Smith Premier typewriting machine, although, as far as my invention is concerned it may be of any suitable construction.'

On each side of the machine a ribbon spool shaft 20 is journaled in the posts 2 and ribbon spools 21 and 22 are mounted on said shafts, one of said ribbon spools being mounted on its shaft. back of the printing line and the other of said spools being mounted forward of theprinting line. In the present instance the righthand ribbon spool 21 is back of the printing line and the left-hand spool 22 is forward of the printing line. These ribbon spools are situated below the top plate and the ribbon is lead from each of them up to the top plate and over a plate 23 secured to the top plate and under a plate 24. The ribbon A divided into three longitudinally extending fields a, b and c is guided from one of the spools to the other in an offset. path, the off-set portion of which is beneath the printing point. To this end a guide plate 25 is mounted in the machine in such a fashion that it isadaptcd to he slid to the right or left. The middle portion of said guide plate is out. out to form acentral opening 25'- and wires 26 and 27 are secured at their ends to the inner edges of the plate 25 which surround the opening 2:, each of said wires extending across the central opening in said plate at an angle of substantially to a line parallel to the direction of travel of the carriage. The ribbon passes upwardly and inwardly from the spool 21 to the right-hand plate 23 and thence under the associated plate 24 beneath the plate 25 to the wire 26. The ribbon then passes up over the wire 26, thence straight towards the front of the mochine, over the wire 27 and down and bencpth the plate 25 and straight across the machine undo! the left-hand plate 24 and downwardly and outwardly from the outer edge of the left-hand plate 23 to the spool 22, as will be clearly understood by reference to Fig. 4. The types are adapted to strike the ribbon through the central opening 25' in the guide plate and forward of the spool 2| and back of the spool 22.

T he printing point is indicated by the reference character a: when the parts are disposal as shown'in Fig. 4. T he types strike tho. part of thoribbon that cxtt-ndsin a front to direction between the wires 25 and 26. The carriage is driven by a spring drum 28 and the ribbon spools are connected up to said spring drum in any suitable manner to impart an automatic longitudirml feed to the ribbon. Each of the drafts 20 als carries: crank handle 20$, by which the ribbon may be fed manually. It will be perceived that "ith the guide plate 25 in the position shown in Fig. 4 the types will strike the ribbon at z near the left-hand edge of the fore andaft extending portion thereof and as the ribbon is fed longitudinally the type will strikcalong the looitudinai line or held a of the ribbon near this edge. This is the 1 dge of the ribbon that is nearest the front oi the mar-hin .t'hen the ribbor is wound on the spools. it. will also be perm-ivvd that ii the plate 25 be moved toward the l ft the typ s will strike a portion of the ribb n near r the middle thereof or within tlntield b nd it it he moved still further toward the h it they wn strike near tln right-hand edueoi the ribbon within the t'vld that is to say, at the edge whit-h. on the spools. is nearest the haul; of the machine. In orth r that th plate 25 may b adapted to be mov d to one 'uns. said plate is slidur another ul' thesiseveral pu ably mounted on mils 2S] and 230 whit-h are set-tired by sinaws Ill to thrtop plate of the mathinei By an in st. w'tion oi lig. l it will bel w-u that this plate 25 lies b1 nrath the (tllt'lztgt' rails t \\ltl(l\ prevent it from being lifted oil f the rails or tracks .29 and 3 ;\t its forward edge the plate 25 is formed with arms whieh are bent down over the front and rear edges of the forward rail 30 ;o as to prevent. the guide plate 25 from turning in a horizontal plane. A spring arm fl?- projeeting toward the trout oi the machine trout the plate 25 has a linger pit-(e 3-1 mounted thereon and it is by manipulation of this linger pieee that the plate may he slid back and forth to its seveml positions. The arm 33 projeets out from under the carriage rail 4 and extends far enough toward the innit oi the maehimto l)l' free of all the earriagv det'iets and to be in a position wh n: it may be rtadily reaehed by the hand of the operator. Said arm 33 passes beneath a bar 35 that extends transversely of the maehiuv and is seeured to the top plate by st'rens 3G.- The bar 35 is tornud on I r 4. with notehes 9.7 (Fig. 2, and a tooth 3:; (l-.,:s. l and 4) is struek up from the arm 31- into position to enter these notelus \\'l\l('l| it tl lt s by reason of th resilient-\- u! said arm 33. This luullt euipentting wi h the nnlt'lu-s 37 s rves to hold the plate 2-3 in any one of the s w-ml positions to \vltit'h it may be adjusted h the operator. The extrenuright hand pt-sitiou to 'lllt'll the plate 2-") van be ,'-d is determined by a nst 39 whit-h supports lltl bar Iii-and whit-h aiso s rves as a stop for the arm .33. The bar 35 is also provided with a left-hand post It) whit-h is set so far to the left of the right-hand post that the plate 2 may ho moved so far to the left that the guid pla e 25 and that portion of the ribbon eontained within the emtml opening tin-rein are entirely at the h-t't-haud side nf the printin: point. ll. is this position of the guide plat .35 that makes it possible to d minu-ogzniph work on the marhlu and also enables the operator t inst-rt the handle ior the typieh-aning brush that is eoinnmuly u ed in the Smith l'rt-miet' lulu-bin.

in order In normally prevent the operator from rahh-rsly proving the ribbon guid so far to the li it as in mow-the rihlmnvmirely away it m the printing; point. m In ptl'hdll him from moving it to surh a position that l-llt type might st like the plate 2-: ilst-lh an adjust- :ld stop it) is mmtHh-d or thtbar 35. Said stop volti ls ot a plate of fl'lh'll metal lwnt up into thetm'ln piemof metal l-Xlt'lltl'r bar sh wn in Figfit and alr but k of :aid hat. the r--.u upward (hltlbi ll of it being ln-ut forward to form a lingv r pi a-ell. 'l'lustop is normally pies mi upward again t tlnun t-1 smhu'tot' the liar 11.: it a U-Slltl'n-tl flat spring -12 that is slipped over the bar and under the stop 40 imm in iront and the two anus of which tend to s ring together. The stop 40 has a tooth 43 struck up therefrom in such position that when the stop is in its normal position said tooth enters one at the notches 37 and thus prm ents motion of the stop longitudinally of the bar 35 By prtssing down on the finger p ece 4]. the step may be depressed '0 th position shown in d tted lines in Fig. 3, in which position the tooth 43 is out nt eu mfzementwith llhr nnt h 37 so tha the stop may be slid along the bar35. Ordinr ily t s st pv vitl stand in s me such position as that shown i Flg. 2 where it will prevent the op mtor from carele sly moving the guide plate 25 too imto the left, but .4 case ii, is desired to move the ribbon entirely .way from the printing neint the step may i'irst he slid to the left and th n ne guide plate may also he slid to the lett. The sic-p40 has depending therefr m a tooth 44 to more perfe t'tly close the opening between the bar 35 and the top plate. It will be per eived that the ribbon mechanisal de- .=s(ribed is adapted to he used either with a ribbon of one solid CQlnt or with a polyt-hrome ribbon. It will also be perceived that a ribbon may he put into this mechanism having longitudinal fields of different ehaincteristir-s and that these fields may be distributed over the ribbon in any desired manner. The ribbon may have either two or more longitudinal stripe of different eharaeteristies and these stripes may be of any suitable \iidth so long as each stripe is wide enough for the types to strike it without lapping over on to another stripe. In the present instance I have shim n a three-rotor ribbon. nu-ring a rent stripe a of rod eopying ribbon. a middle stripe b of purple copying ribbon and a. rear stripe c of black reeord ribbon. In this instant-(- also I have shown the red find black stripes as munparutively narrow and the purple stripe as ttltttli \ider than the other stripes, for the reason that this ribbon i designed for use by persons who will probably use the purple copying ribbon more than eithernf the others.

The ribbon met-hanisni thus far deser'iL-ed is not of my invention but is the invention of Alexander T. lime-n. For use in t'onncetiou with this ribbon mechanism l have provided a detachable indit-ator card, plate or eqi-ivalent devil-e 45 adapted to cooperate with a pointer 41? formed on the ioruard end of the arm 1 in order to mount this indieator eard dctaehahly on tl'e tlHHltilK a plate =17 is seeured at its forward edge to the top plate 3 by strex's 48. the rear edge of said plate lying beneath the posts 3H) oi the bar 3!} and being set-tired in plaee at th se points by the sirens 36. The part of the plate 17 that lies just in front of the pniltllr 41; is uzt away to t'orm a sight opening 49 having a length tnmsvcrselyol the nuu-hine substantially equal to the width of the ink ribbon. The part'ot' the plate 47 that ilmm-diately surrounds this sight opening is stamped up so as to leave between this part of the plate -t7 and the top plate 3-a spat-e sullieient for the indieatur mrd 45. This raised portion of the plate 47 extends to the forward edge of said plate so as to leave an opening li tl"i1 '.2) through 'hivh they-aid 4:"; run l.e slipp d into position hem-nth the plate 47 from the from. The llllllqltht' eani or plate may be'made of any snilal-htini t'tldl and it has that portion of its upscopes 3 per surface that. lies beneath the sight opening 49 col .ored with colors corresponding to those of the ink ribbon. The present card has a field a of red, a field b of purple and a field c of black, the widths of these 5 several fields being equal to the nidths of the corresponding fields in the ink ribbon. The colors on the card show the colors of the corresponding parts of the ribbon and in addition to this, characters may be printed on the card if desired to show the ort of ink on the different fields of the ribbon. For example,

the letter R may be printed on the black field c to indicate that this part of the ribbon is record ribbon and the letter C may be printed on the purple and red fields to indicate that these portions of the ribbon are copying ribbon or the wide purple field may have the word copy printed thereon as shown in Fig. 5. The card is made readily detachable so that in case another ribbon is used and inked in some different way. a corresponding card may be inserted in the card holder. For example, the black stripe might be made wider and the purple stripe nrrrou er in some other ribbon, in which case the card would be modified correspondingly; or another ribbon might be used having l only two fields instead of three and a card divided in the same way would be put into the machine at the same time that the ribbon was.

This invention contemplates the manufacture of difierent styles of ribbon having difierent colors and different numbers of colors suitable for the use of different classes of customers, and it is'contemplated that in each package ofgibbon sold there thall be placed an indicav tor card corresponding to that particular ribbon. For example; if the customerhad been using his machine equipped in the manner shown in the-drawings and 85 decided that he required a two-color ribbon, one stripe being black record ribbon and the other purple copying ribbon, when he purchased this new ribbon he would find in the same package .with the ribbon an indicator card adapted to be inserted in the machine. which 40 card would correspond inits indications to the colors on'the new ribbon. The use of a detachable indicator card -in the manner above described adds gr atly to ing machine may purchase any style of ribbon that he chooses, or may, if he chooses, have several different stylesoi ribbon and he may at any time insert in his machine any one of these ribbons and insert the corresponding indicator card, when his machine will be fully equipped for the use of that,particular ribbon in the most convenient manner.

The term indicator card employed herein is used in a broad sense and is intended to apply to any indicator card, plate or equivalent indicating device whether it be in the nature of apiece of the ribbon 'i't'aelf or any suitable means corresponding in function to the card 45.

Various changes may be wide in the details of COD. emu-lion and arrangement without (lemming from my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isz- I. ln-a typcwrltlug machine and ribbon mechanism. the climb! atlon of printing lnsu-uml-amlltlcs; nu luk ribbon dlvrdcd lnlo fields o! dlficront characteristics; hund contrt dllcd means for confining \hc coopcrullon of the printing lnstrumcntnlltlos then-with to any d slrcd field; and means. {or indicating what particular ficld of tho rlbbon is In position to cooperate with the prlntlng iosnu mentalitlcs. said lndlcatin;; mcaus comprising an lndcx. n cofipcratlng lndlcstor card or plate divldcd lnto fields correspondlng to the dlvlslons o! the fields of tho ink ribbon, and means for rcm'wably securing the indicator and or plate in the operative position. whereby cach ribbon may have and may be used in the machine in lonncctlon with its own indicator card showlng the peculiar charncterlstlcs of that ril)bon.-

'2. In a typowrlrlng machine and in a ribbon mechanism, the'comblnatlon of a rlbi-cu having fields o different characteristics; controlling means opcrnhlc at will to bring elther of said fields to the printing point; and an lndlcator for said controlling means comprising a puintc. or index. an indicator card or plate marked to correspond with the dlflerent fields of the parrlculnr ink ribbon In use, and a card or plate holder for sold lndlcalor card or plate, said holder being adapted to permit the card or plate. to be readily Inserted and removed. whereby each i'lhbon may have and may be used in the mac-blue in connectlon'wltb its own lndlcstor card showing the pecullar character-lanes of that rllzbon.

3. In a typewrltlng machine and ribbon mechanism, the comblnatlon ot a rlbbon having fields or dlfiercnt colors; controlling means operable at will to brlnglelthcr of said fields to the printing point; and an indicator for said controlling means comprlslru: a pointer or index, and an indicator card or plate marked wlth colors corrm ondlng to the colors on the ink ribbon. and a card or plate holder for sald lndlcutor mrd or plste. sald holder being adapted to permit the card or plate to be rcndlly inserted and removed, whereby each ribbon may .have and may be used In the machine in connection with its 'own indicator card showing the peculiar characteristics of that rlbbon.

4. In'a. typewrltlng machine and in a ribbon mechanism, the combination or an ink ribbon havlng' longltudlnsl fields of different colors or characteristics: n rlbbon guide adapted to be moved to bring any selected one of sald fields to the printing point: an Indicator card or plate ma rlrod with color: or characteristics corresponding to the colors or chlrncterlstlcs on the ink ribbon; in. card or plsteholder in which said card or plate may be readily secured and from which it may be readily removed: and a pointer cooperating with said indicator card or plate to show whlch of the fields o! the ribbon ls arthe printing polut, whereby each ribbon may have and may be used In the machine in connection with its own indicator cardshowing the peculiar characteristics of that ribbon.

5. 10 a typewrltlng machine and tn 8. rlbbon mechanism, the combination of u ribbon gulde that is movable to brlng any desired longitudinal Held 0! an Ink rlbbon to the prlntlng point so that said ribbon guide is adapted for use with dlfiereut ribbons euch having longitudinal fields of dlttercnt characteristics. even though the dlflercnt rlbbuns employed may be differently divided; an ink ribbon adapted to be used in said ribbon gulde and having longitudinal fields or different characteristics, an indicator card dlvlded lnto fields correspondmg to those of the particular ribbon in use; a card-holder in whichssld card is adapted to be readily mounted and from which it Is adapted to be rczulliy detached: ands pointer fol-coopersting with said detachable cord to lndlcste which of the fields of the ribbon is at the printing polnt whereby each ribbon may have and may be used in the muchlne 1n conncctlon with its own indicator card showing the peculiar characteristics of that ribbon.

6. In a typowrlting machine and in a ribbon mechanism, the comblnarlon of a ribbon guide adapted to be moved to difi'erent posltlons to bring any one of a plurality of longitudinal Jlslds ol' the ink ribbon to the printing point; means for controlling said guide no no to cause any selected one a! the o! thermoto be brought to the print- I l l l i g of Hit nint'hinrand having :1 sight own ng tin-r in and i iuinwurtvd in tlust nivntinnt-d npvning and to h sci-n.

in tht- "minty of Onondaga, and f Xi-w York. thi 3th tiny of April A. 1). 19m).

ARTHUR .i. BRIGGS.

Winn-Wm Z Ill-JAN (l,.\t:K.

(inn. Mi whims:

- ruclt-ristiv at (111- cnrrt-spundiut: tit-id of the. 

